The latest developments in the coronavirus outbreak have been of the building pace with which it is crossing new territories. From Bahrain to Afghanistan and South Korea to Iran, there have been numerous reports of infection, with Iran having lost at least 12 people, as per The New York Times. [1]
With reports such as these, people suspect the spread of virus increasing with every passing day. In view of the significant outbreak in Iran, Tehran declared a weeklong closure of schools, universities, and cultural hubs in 14 regions. Many neighboring countries have closed their borders with Iran as of now and have limited their travels to only ‘humanitarian purposes’.
South Korea, where the reported number of cases have been the highest outside China, has been put on alert by their President Moon Jae-in. On addressing the issue, he said, “The central government, local governments, health officials and medical personnel and the entire people must wage an all-out, concerted response to the problem.”
In Europe, Italy has been the first and the worst affected by this outbreak, with an astounding increase in the number of cases. Reports suggest the number of people infected rose from 1 to 152 in just three days, with 5 reported deaths so far.
From China, reports of a ban on the consumption of any wildlife come fresh in view as an attempt to control the further spread of COVID-19. In a press conference held by the WHO recently, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus addressed the developments by saying, “We’re involving as many experts and very known and respected scientists as possible from all over the world and I know when we finalize the analysis we will get a very good-quality analysis based on science and evidence and we will announce that as soon as we have it.” [2]
For the latest updates on COVID-19, please visit the CDC link and the NIH link. [3] [4]